Seventeen Year Itch... or something like that

It’s been seventeen years since we last saw them, with their red, beady eyes, delicate wings and cockroach-like bodies. Yes, I’m talking about the cicadas. And they’re back.

I have two vivid images of my first cicada experience back in 1973. The entire outside of the house was covered in them, and we had difficulty riding our bikes because the streets, sidewalks and driveways were covered in them. It was like trying to dodge raindrops with your bike – impossible. The crunching sound when you accidentally ran one over still rings in my ears, and I can remember the horrible way they smelled afterward. It’s enough to give me goosebumps even now.

Fast forward to 1990, which was my second cicada experience. I don’t really remember much about them other than they weren’t quite as bad. I had learned that it was probably because of all the new construction that had taken place in seventeen years, and the poor creatures had no ground left to crawl up from. I remember that this made me extremely happy.

A few months ago I sent an article to my childhood friends reminding them that this was the year of the cicada. Recently, my friend Patti started sending me delicious cicada photos – cicada sandwiches, cicada sundaes, cicada salads… you name it. It got to the point that I was going to vomit if I saw another cicada used as food. She did send me a photo of cicada jewelry… now there’s an idea!

May 22nd was supposed to be D-Day for the cicada arrival. Everyone I know was prepared for the cicada invasion on this day, two days ago. Nothing. What? No cicadas? Did they get lost? Has our bitterly cold May caused them to stay underground longer than expected? Where could they be?

Not so fast. I had my first cicada sighting yesterday while on my morning break/walk. There it was, on the sidewalk in front of us. It wasn’t frightening at all. It wasn’t hurting anyone and was just sitting there. It was probably looking up at us hoping we wouldn’t trample it to death. Strangely enough, I was almost excited to finally see one.

I’ve decided to make peace with the cicadas this year. As soon as I see one on my own property (not one so far), I will take a picture of it and post it here. I’m hoping that when the cicada infestation finally does happen, I won’t turn back to my 1973 self and freak out…

© Kathleen Strelow 2007